87 research outputs found
Neutrophil-Mediated Immunopathology and Matrix Metalloproteinases in Central Nervous System - Tuberculosis.
No full textTuberculosis (TB) remains one of the leading infectious killers in the world, infecting approximately a quarter of the world's population with the causative organism Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tb). Central nervous system tuberculosis (CNS-TB) is the most severe form of TB, with high mortality and residual neurological sequelae even with effective TB treatment. In CNS-TB, recruited neutrophils infiltrate into the brain to carry out its antimicrobial functions of degranulation, phagocytosis and NETosis. However, neutrophils also mediate inflammation, tissue destruction and immunopathology in the CNS. Neutrophils release key mediators including matrix metalloproteinase (MMPs) which degrade brain extracellular matrix (ECM), tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α which may drive inflammation, reactive oxygen species (ROS) that drive cellular necrosis and neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), interacting with platelets to form thrombi that may lead to ischemic stroke. Host-directed therapies (HDTs) targeting these key mediators are potentially exciting, but currently remain of unproven effectiveness. This article reviews the key role of neutrophils and neutrophil-derived mediators in driving CNS-TB immunopathology
Community weighted mean trait data of Italian forest understories
No full textPlant functional trait data aggregated at the community level (i.e., community weighted mean, CWM) are fundamental to study plant-environment relationships. Here, we provide a large database of CWM values of twelve traits reflecting several plant functions, including leaf, seed, whole-plant, clonal and bud bank traits. The CWMs were calculated in 201 forest stands (a statistically representative sample of all the Italian forests) across three biogeographic regions: Alpine, Continental, and Mediterranean. © 2019 The Author(s
Hypoxia increases neutrophil-driven matrix destruction after exposure to Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
No full textThe importance of neutrophils in the pathology of tuberculosis (TB) has been recently established. We demonstrated that TB lesions in man are hypoxic, but how neutrophils in hypoxia influence lung tissue damage is unknown. We investigated the effect of hypoxia on neutrophil-derived enzymes and tissue destruction in TB. Human neutrophils were stimulated with M. tuberculosis (M.tb) or conditioned media from M.tb-infected monocytes (CoMTB). Neutrophil matrix metalloproteinase-8/-9 and elastase secretion were analysed by luminex array and gelatin zymography, gene expression by qPCR and cell viability by flow cytometry. Matrix destruction was investigated by confocal microscopy and functional assays and neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) by fluorescence assay. In hypoxia, neutrophil MMP-8 secretion and gene expression were up-regulated by CoMTB. MMP-9 activity and neutrophil elastase (NE) secretion were also increased in hypoxia. Hypoxia inhibited NET formation and both neutrophil apoptosis and necrosis after direct stimulation by M.tb. Hypoxia increased TB-dependent neutrophil-mediated matrix destruction of Type I collagen, gelatin and elastin, the main structural proteins of the human lung. Dimethyloxalylglycin (DMOG), which stabilizes hypoxia-inducible factor-1α, increased neutrophil MMP-8 and -9 secretion. Hypoxia in our cellular model of TB up-regulated pathways that increase neutrophil secretion of MMPs that are implicated in matrix destruction
A scalable SIMD RISC-V based processor with customized vector extensions for CRYSTALS-kyber
No full textThis paper uses RISC-V vector extensions to speed up lattice-based operations in architectures based on HW/SW co-design. We analyze the structure of the number-theoretic transform (NTT), inverse NTT (INTT), and coefficient-wise multiplication (CWM) in CRYSTALS-Kyber, a lattice-based key encapsulation mechanism. We propose 12 vector extensions for CRYSTALS-Kyber multiplication and four for finite field operations in combination with two optimizations of the HW/SW interface. This results in a speed-up of 141.7, 168.7, and 245.5 times for NTT, INTT, and CWM, respectively, compared with the baseline implementation, and a speed-up of over four times compared with the state-of-the-art HW/SW co-design using RV32IMC.Cyber Securit
Evaluation of the relationship between soil properties and functional traits in three forest types in a subtropical mountain in Mexico
No full textAlthough it is well-established that soil nutrients determine leaf morpho-physiology and tree dimensions, linking soil physicochemical properties with functional community patterns under field conditions remains difficult. We examine how soil properties shape community-weighted mean (CWM) traits and species composition in pine, mixed, and broadleaf forests along a topographic gradient in the subtropical mountains of western Mexico. We related pH, organic matter, calcium, boron, and silt with stomatal density, stomatal conductance, leaf water potential (Ψ), specific leaf area (SLA), diameter at breast height (DBH), and tree height across three forest types and nine 1000m2 plots along the gradient. Pine forests, with distinct species composition, occupied stressful environments characterized by acidic soils and low organic matter. They adopted a conservative resources use strategy, with lower CWM-SLA and higher CWM-DBH, along with less negative CWM-Ψ, indicating reduced water stress compared to broadleaf and mixed forests. In contrast, broadleaf and mixed forests inhabit soils without nutrient limitations, showed a more acquisitive strategy, and high species turnover resulted in similar CWM values between them. This functional heterogeneity may be a key factor in the resilience of subtropical forest to disturbances.The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the pdf file of the accepted manuscript may differ slightly from what is displayed on the item page. The information in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript reflects the original submission by the author
Community-weighted mean traits but not functional diversity determine the changes in soil properties during wetland drying on the Tibetan Plateau
No full textClimate change and human activities have caused a shift in vegetation composition and soil biogeochemical cycles of alpine wetlands on the Tibetan Plateau. The primary goal of this study was to test for associations between community-weighted mean (CWM) traits, functional diversity, and soil properties during wetland drying. We collected soil samples and investigated the aboveground vegetation in swamp, swamp meadow, and typical meadow environments. Four CWM trait values (specific leaf area is SLA, leaf dry matter content is LDMC, leaf area is LA, and mature plant height is MPH) for 42 common species were measured across the three habitats; three components of functional diversity (functional richness, functional evenness, and functional divergence) were also quantified at these sites. Our results showed that the drying of the wetland dramatically altered plant community and soil properties. There was a significant correlation between CWM of traits and soil properties, but not a significant correlation between functional diversity and soil properties. Our results further showed that CWM-LA, CWM-SLA, and CWM-LDMC had positive correlations with soil readily available nutrients (available nitrogen, AN; available phosphorus, AP), but negative correlations with total soil nutrients (soil organic carbon is SOC, total nitrogen is TN, and total phosphorus is TP). Our study demonstrated that simple, quantitative plant functional traits, but not functional diversity, are directly related to soil C and N properties, and they likely play an important role in plant-soil interactions. Our results also suggest that functional identity of species may be more important than functional diversity in influencing ecosystem processes during wetland drying
Evaluating the environmental audit: Case study into the Centre for Waste Management's (CWM) European Regional Development Funded (ERDF) project's success at promoting sustainable development in small to medium enterprises (SMEs).
No full textSustainable development has evolved rapidly over the last 30 years to fonn an integral part of business and political agendas (Smith, 1993). Although the overarching definition of sustainability is understood to represent the long-term maintenance of social, environmental and economic systems (Gudmundsson et aL, 1996; Hughes et aL, 2005), many aspects of sustainable development are far from having integrity in terms of political and business agendas due to the lack of viable accounting techniques.
This study was designed to assess the methods of evaluating the sustainable development achievements of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) project at the Centre for Waste Management (CWM), based at the University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK. The research was developed as a result of the author completing the CWM ERDF project closure report; the report identified a lack of collaboration between the project's achievements in the area of sustainable development and the ERDF targets.
The report illustrated that the quantitative measures, results and cross-cutting theme targets of the ERDF were insufficient at demonstrating the actual benefits of project assistance. Whilst the monetary unit is the most universally recognised component of measurement (Bateman et aL, 2003) and is used extensively in the evaluation of ERDF programmes. The
calculation of increased and safeguarded jobs and sales were perceived to be extremely subjective by project managers and beneficiary small and medium-sized enterprises (SME5) alike.
Initial proposals advocated the creation of specific sustainable development measures, however extensive research demonstrated that weak sustainability was present in the cuntnt ERDF targets and further project measures would only serve to dissuade SME participation. The economic, environmental and social benefits of the project were obscured due to an absence of fixed calculation methods and no long term project evaluation
Community-level trait responses and intra-specific trait variability play important roles in driving community productivity in an alpine meadow on the Tibetan Plateau
No full textAims Human activities have dramatically increased nutrient inputs to ecosystems, impacting plant community diversity, composition and functioning. Extensive research has shown that a decrease in species diversity and an increase in productivity are a common phenomenon following fertilization in grasslands ecosystem. The magnitude of the response of species diversity and above-ground net primary productivity (ANPP) to fertilization mainly depends on species traits (mean trait values) and traits variability (plasticity). Our aim of this study was to examine (i) changes of species diversity (species richness and Shannon-Wiener index) and ANPP following fertilization; (ii) which species traits or community-weighted mean (CWM) traits can determine ANPP, as expected from the 'biomass ratio hypothesis'; and (iii) the relative role of intra-specific and inter-specific trait variability in this process following fertilization. Methods We measured ANPP and four key plant functional traits: specific leaf area (SLA), leaf dry matter content (LDMC), mature plant height (MPH) and leaf nitrogen concentration (LNC) for 25 component species along a fertilization gradient in an alpine meadow on the Tibetan Plateau. In addition, trait variation of species was assessed using coefficients of variation (CV), and we calculated the ratio of the CVintra to the CVinter. Important Findings Our results showed that: (i) fertilization significantly reduced species richness and Shannon-Weiner diversity index, but significantly increased ANPP; (ii) there was a significant positive correlation between ANPP and CWM-SLA and CWM-MPH, yet there was no significant relationship between ANPP and CWM-LNC or CWM-LDMC; (iii) intra-specific variability in SLA and MPH was found to be much greater than inter-specific variability, especially at the higher fertilization levels. We concluded that CWM-SLA and CWM-MPH can be used to assess the impacts of species changes on ecosystem functioning, and dominant species can maximize resource use through intra-specific variability in SLA and MPH to compensate for the loss of species following fertilization, therefore maintaining high community productivity
Effect of metal oxide on anti-microbial finishing of cotton fabric
No full textAuthor name used in this publication: Chun Wah M. YuenVersion of RecordPublishedPublisher permissio
- …
